happy new year.

2011 was certainly a gift. God blessed us richly in many ways. He also taught us many new things as we faced trials and hardships and difficult questions. We are trying to love better and live in thankfulness.

The Top Ten of 2011 (in no particular order):
1. Celebrating our second wedding anniversary with a day off work to spend together.
2. Enjoying our first full year in our house...and loving all of the projects and work we've been able to do on it.
3. Beacon joining our little family. He's definitely a lively puppy, but we definitely love him!
4. Rob starting his internship with Spectrum Hospice and getting confirmation that this work is his life passion.
5. Volunteering as a middle school youth group leader again. It sure is good to be back.
6. Starting in the Masters of Counseling program at Spring Arbor University and achieving a 4.0 semester.
7. Being proactive in learning about our finances and starting to practice being stewards with what we have.
8. Starting a new job at Compass College of Cinematic Arts - so blessed to be able to love going to work.
9. Celebrating with our friends: a wedding, a baby, two babies on the way, new jobs, new houses, new dogs!
10. Being intentional about spending more time with our families whenever possible.

A Couple of Our Goals for 2012 (in no particular order):
1. Send more cards to friends and family near and far - we think about them often and want them to know.
2. Update the blog more often - so we can look back on the things we've done and stay in touch with friends.
3. Continue to learn how to budget our finances and be stewards of the gifts God has blessed us with.
4. Be intentional about spending time with people. It's easy to be busy and get caught up in hours at work and good grades in school and taking care of the house, but we want to work on building genuine relationships.

We hope that 2011 was a year of learning and growing for you just as it was for us and we pray that 2012 will be filled with hope and that our eyes will be opened to seeing the world the way Jesus sees it: with love.

So, Happy New Year from the Bergmans. We hope you're enjoying your celebrations - whatever they may be. At our house, we're thankful for a low key night: Bananagrams, popcorn, Root Beer, watching the Rockin' New Year's Eve party on TV, and being a-okay with going to bed by 12:05am! Cheers!

merry christmas.

Merry Christmas!

With love,

Rob, Stephanie & Beacon

From our little family to yours, we pray that you have a Christmas that is filled with celebration, love, and all the joy that comes from giving and receiving while we spend time with those you love. We know that this kind of true joy can only come because of the hope we have in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, we also recognize that this time of year is filled with pain, grief, and sadness for a lot of families as well. If this is true of your Christmas season, it is our prayer that amid your sadness you might be able to recognize that the hope of Christ can never be lost in darkness - in fact, Christmas causes us to remember the fact that Christ came and triumphed over the darkness!

If you're like us, you've already taken part in some Christmas celebrations with your families. But, before you continue on to all the various parties that you have planned for today and tomorrow, will you take a few minutes to listen to these two songs? They invite us to remember that Christmas is most certainly about gifts - but not the kind that come wrapped in red and green paper with sparkly ribbon and bows on top. Rather, let us remember the gift that came wrapped in humility, given not because our names were drawn out of a hat by a family member, but given because our names are written in the Book of Life and because God loves us so much.

"Jesus Is Alive" - Josh Wilson

"Alive" - Natalie Grant

two years.

Today Rob and I celebrate two years of marriage. On December 19, 2009, I was fairly certain that I could never be more in love than I was standing in my wedding dress, saying "I do" to my best friend. Well, I'm here to testify that I was wrong. Today, December 19, 2011, I am more in love than I was on our wedding day. I think it's because I know just a little bit more about what love really means (and still have a lot to learn). Two years have flown by and I can only imagine that it just keeps getting better and better...

All photo credits to LVL Photography

I'm am so thankful for the wonderful gift God gave me in Rob. We've accomplished a lot in two years: we both got new jobs that we love, we bought our first house, we got a dog, we've both started Masters programs, we've discovered lots of dreams and faced some tough stuff too, but we get more and more excited with every passing day for all that is to come in the years ahead. Every day there are more smiles and tears and laughter and areas to grow...but, I'm so blessed to have my best friend to share it all with. 

Here's to Year 3.

crazy life. puppy lovin'.

Life has been super crazy lately! At least, that's how it feels. Rob and I have both been really busy with school and work (some big events going on this week!). All that to say, there hasn't been much time to give the blog any attention! But, here we are today: thankful that Rob just finished taking his final exam (confirmed via text 30 seconds ago! It's Christmas Break!) and I finished my class last week and have the next month off from school.

To celebrate, here's a ridiculous video of Beacon that I took while trying to eat supper tonight! He is teething so he has a sock with ice in it to chew on. Apparently, it was more fun used in a different manner. And clearly, you will see that he does not know how to sit still. (Also, please excuse the awkward camera handling.) The strange noises in the background are from this equally crazy video made by some Kuyper students!

You'd think he'd give himself whiplash or something!
We hope that even in your busiest moments you still find ways to laugh and enjoy the little things around you!